My Piqué and Your PK. Iker, Iker’s OK!

There were three penalties in a minute, and the ball hit the post three times in a second among other dramatic event as Spain narrowly edged their way past Paraguay in their quarter final match at Ellis Park in Johannesburg.

The game was settled eight minutes from the end of the regulation ninety minutes. Andres Iniesta burst through the tiring Paraguayan defence down a central channel and fed the unmarked Pedro on the right. He hit the post dramatically with his shot which rebounded out to the feet of David Villa. Spain’s arch striker hit the inside of the right hand post and the ball trickled along the line behind goalkeeper Justo Villar onto the left hand post. From there it bobbled in to secure Spain their semi final place.

Beyond that there was plenty of incident to enthrall and much of it centred around Guatemalan referee Carlos Batres. Four minutes before half time, Paraguay had the ball in the net and it should have counted. A long diagonal cross floated into the box over the head of the offside Oscar Cardozo. But he failed to make any connection and the ball fell at the feet of the decidedly onside Nelson Valdez who hammered it home. The flag was up though and Spain had caught a lucky break.

The real drama happened just after the hour. Gerard Pique broke the golden rule ‘don’t hold hands in public‘. He held so tightly onto the arm of Oscar Cardozo that the Paraguayan forward fell as he tried to chase the ball. It was a clear penalty and Bartres made the right call. Cardozo broke another golden rule, the one about the man fouled not taking the subsequent penalty. It was a poor effort and Iker Casilla’s became Spanish hero with a more than accomplished, but less than spectacular save. Within seconds, an identical drama unfolded at the other end. David Villa flung himself headlong under minimal attention from the EPL bound Antolin Alcaraz. Batres made the make up call and awarded Spain a penalty.

The drama was to increase. Xabi Alonso scored but Batres disallowed it because a Spanish player had encroached into the penalty area. Replays showed they had done the same at Cardozo’s penalty and the referee could have ordered a retake there too. Alonso stepped up a second time and Justo Villar blocked the effort and pushed the ball back into the goal mouth. Cesc Fabregas was about to round the keeper and Villar hauled him down, but the official had no appetite to repeat the sequence and waved play on. After all that, the score was still 0-0.

Spain will now play Germany in the semi final after their demolition of Argentina. Holland will play Uruguay in the other.

Cape Vier – Maradona Mannschafted by Exuberant Germans

Paraguay: 1-Justo Villar; 2-Dario Veron, 14-Paulo Da Silva, 21-Antolin Alcaraz, 3-Claudio Morel, 8-Edgar Barreto, 11-Jonathan Santana, 15-Victor Caceres, 16-Cristian Riveros, 18-Nelson Valdez, 7-Oscar Cardozo.

Spain: 1-Iker Casillas; 15-Sergio Ramos, 3-Gerard Piqué, 5-Carles Puyol, 11-Joan Capdevila; 14-Xabi Alonso, 8-Xavi, 6-Andres Iniesta, 16-Sergio Busquets; 9-Fernando Torres, 7-David Villa.